Goal, contents and structure

The Master’s programme in English Studies offers a wide range of courses in English linguistics, literatures in English and the teaching of English. You can take courses in all three areas or just focus on one of them.

Goal

The courses in the programme help you develop your expertise in areas that are often separated in other programmes: English language and linguistics, literatures in English and the teaching of English. By working in a stimulating environment with accomplished researchers and teachers, you will also develop other skills needed in your future career, such as presentation skills, group work skills and project management skills.

An MA in English Studies prepares you for a variety of jobs and our graduates have been successful in finding employment. If combined with pedagogical studies, the Master’s degree in English Studies qualifies you to be a language teacher. Alternatively, you can find employment in media or publishing, business or international organisations. English is used globally as the language of science, culture, business and tourism, and experts in English are required in all of these fields.

Contents

Courses in the English Studies programme focus on topics relating to the English language, literatures in English and teaching English. You can choose to combine courses from one or more lines according to your interests. In Linguistics courses you explore the structure and uses of English as well as language variation and change, sociolinguistics and corpus linguistics. In Literature courses you study the various literatures in English from narrative, cognitive, postcolonial and ecocritical perspectives. Courses in Applied Linguistics are tailored especially for future language teachers.

As a student in the programme, you will attend lectures but also work in collaboration with other students, partly in digital learning environments. To assess your learning progress, a variety of methods are used, such as examinations, essays and learning diaries. You will also practice your spoken and presentation skills.

Structure

The scope of the Master’s degree is 120 credits (ECTS). The degree contains the following studies:

Courses from the English studies programme (60-120 credits)

If needed, courses from other programmes / modules (0-60 credits)

With full-time studies you should be able to complete the Master’s degree in two years.

Depending on your interests, you can also include elective subjects and other supporting studies.

To help you complete your studies, you will be assigned a personal advisor who helps you prepare a personal study plan at the beginning of your Master’s studies.

Master’s thesis

The Master’s programme culminates in writing the Master’s thesis, an independent scientific study. The aim of the Master’s thesis is to develop skills required for conducting research. The most important of these are the ability to draw on earlier research, define relevant research problems, and analyse and report independently acquired data.

In English Studies, you write your thesis in English.

The Master’s thesis process develops skills in the following areas:

Defining your chosen research problem in the context of previous research in the field